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Cory Booker’s brand takes a hit

Booker may have done more harm than good with comments on 'Meet the Press.' | AP Photo

Not everyone thinks Booker did himself damage.

“I just don’t see any situation where this really hurts him politically in New Jersey,” said Bradley Tusk, who managed New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 reelection campaign and who has worked with Booker on education initiatives. “I don’t think voters will remember this if he runs for office. I don’t think they’d care even if they did remember. Nor do I think anyone would challenge him from the left.”

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“He’s a very attractive candidate — there aren’t that many of them around. He is one of them. … I think what people like about candidates these days is when they’re honest — so what he said about ‘a plague on both your houses,’ I think it was very well received. I don’t think it helped him or hurt him in the end.”

The counter-argument to why Booker has hurt himself, according to a number of Democratic operatives, is simple: he’s black and will pick up nearly every African-American vote, he can raise infinite sums of money, and he’s a terrific and tireless campaigner who has made good use of social media to grow his base of support. It’s the Obama playbook on a statewide stage.

Yet Kean pointed to what may have been the biggest problem for Booker out of last week — that his tortured-looking YouTube reversal of his “nauseating” remark, a nearly four-minute mea culpa in which he tried to stick with his original words while saying Romney’s Bain tenure is fair game — didn’t help someone trying to maintain a brand as a straighttalker.

“The problem is he backtracked, so that makes him look like one of them, not one of us,” Kean said. “But I think the initial comments were on target. (I) don’t think they were critical of the president, they were critical of an ad strategy.”

Booker’s aides did not return calls for comment.

Booker’s words on last Sunday’s “Meet the Press” provoked a week of national scrutiny never before faced by the mayor criticizing the first black president. He became the first Democrat to question whether the president should be launching attacks on private equity — which invests in New Jersey pension funds, and the Democratic Party — and was soon followed by other Democrats, such as ex-Rep. Harold Ford, and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell.

Although Democrats quickly piled on Booker — including Obama himself, stating clearly the Bain attacks would continue — Republicans embraced Booker as an ally. The GOP launched an “I Stand with Cory” campaign, and Romneyland has repeatedly emailed out his money quote, that the Bain attacks are part of a “nauseating” pattern of negativity in national politics.

It’s just a matter of time before Booker stars in a future Romney campaign ad, containing some version of this sentence: “Even Obama ally Cory Booker believes the Bain attacks are wrong…”

maybe he should just switch to the GOP. These days there is no room in the Democratic party for anyone who is not a Hollywood progressive and a closet marxist. Even Hillary was not far enough left for the Dem party leaders in 2008. The Democratic party of today is not the same Democratic party that LBJ and John Kennedy knew

lol. Never heard of the guy until last week, and until he "walked back" the comments I thought him and Christie were a strong combination. Booker - stick with Plan A and Comments A. Don't let the WH fool you.

Obama is utterly un-re-electable and is going to loose to a squish named Romney.

Booker's reputation did not take a hit. He simply peed on his own reputation. He did it all by his own egotistical, self-absorbing, big-money-butt-kissing self. I hope that Obama loses Booker's phone number. Leave him to his kingdom that is a cesspool in New Jersey.

Booker spoke the truth from his heart and his own party gave him the choice of being thrown under the bus or get in lock step with them. Obama's team wants to control the media so tightly it looks like the way dictators run their "free" press. Shameful. Booker should have taken the high road and stick to his original comments.

Didn't this guy run into a burning house and rescue a little girl? -that pretty awesome.

And the dems want to dump this guy?

this is the part that gets me: "It is absolutely crazy to go and blast the president,” said one Democratic operative who knows Booker well, and asked not to be identified. “And he could have gotten away with it"

"And he could have gotten away with it..."

"I laid my raincoat on the table in such a way as to be able to remove the ice axe which was in the pocket. I decided not to miss the wonderful opportunity that presented itself. The moment Trotsky began reading the article, he gave me my chance; I took out the ice axe from the raincoat, gripped it in my hand and, with my eyes closed, dealt him a terrible blow on the head" -Ramón Mercader

Having seen Booker on T.V. before, I was impressed with what appeared to be an honest moderate Democrat (politician). As I watched him Sunday morning I was amazed. Here was a politician who was willing to admit that the President and leader of his party was playing cheap,dirty, dishonest politics. At that moment I thought, wow, this guy is what Obama was supposed to be. Someone who could actually bring the parties together with his honesty. I guess I was naive, that statement destroyed his chances with the looney far left tho appealing to the independents and hopefully moderate Dems. Then came the call from Axelrod (I assume) and the walk-back which most likely lost him the moderate Dems and independents. A twofer. He managed to pzz off the left with his original statement and most everyone else by not standing up to the powers that be and sticking with his original (hinest) feelings. Nobody said being an honest politician was easy.